Spindrift ARC Log - Day 19
Austins' Travels
Chris & Lynn Austin
Thu 8 Dec 2011 15:12
Less than 400 Miles to go.
As expected the wind died by 2100 yesterday evening and we motored until
0200 when it picked up until 0700 and died again. So we have been motoring
ever since in very calm seas which are now mirror like. Reports from the ARC organisers say that boats finishing now
have been motoring the last 100 miles. So we expect that the current weather
will continue possibly until we arrive. I have calculated that we have
enough fuel for about 10 miles less than the distance we need to go, plus or
minus a few miles, so let's hope it is enough, or that we get a some wind at
some time in the next 3 days. We now expect to arrive on Sunday morning,
local time, if we continue motoring at current slow speed to conserve fuel.
It is now very hot and humid - over 30 degrees at the chart table - but in
two of the cabins next to the engine compartment it is well above that and
of course next to the cooker at mealtimes it is even worse. So sleeping
tonight will be difficult. Strangely no-one really minds the engine noise at
night because it drowns out the intermittent noises of the boat (the odd
clank, bang, rattle, clunk, squeak .... of ropes, spars and blocks and pans,
plates and cups moving in cupboards, etc. but the heat generated by the
engine with so little air movement is stifling. When below at any time
during the day or night we are dripping with sweat after a few minutes so
sitting on deck is very popular. On watch at night requires only a T-shirt,
shorts and lifejacket. Anyone on deck after dark or in rougher conditions in
the day is required to wear a lifejacket and be attached to a strong point
on the boat by a safety line. When leaving the cockpit we attach our safety
lines to a special line that runs the length of the boat (called a
'jackstay') so we don't fall overboard. The first rule of man overboard
preparations is 'don't fall overboard!'.
On the subject of sleeping - after the first 3 days when no-one slept much
we are all typically getting about 4 hours, sometimes 5 hours and sometimes
3 hours, per day which comes in 1.5-2 hour sessions of usually very
interrupted sleep on one or both sides of a night time watch or during the
day if we haven't slept well at night. Except Shaun, who seems to have been
able to sleep well most nights with a few exceptions - and we are all
jealous! However, everyone is still very good humoured and showing few signs
of fatigue or irritability. When motoring there is now little work on the
boat to occupy us so the main activities are reading and cooking and eating
and, in my case, this blog and planning the next phase of the trip in the
Windward Islands.